“It’s fair and square - every square essentially helps you hit three ESG metrics with a single product.”

In this episode of the Can Marketing Save the Planet podcast, we are joined by Rob Cobbold, Founder and CEO, of the brilliant organisation, Native - a platform which allows people, groups, communities and organisations of all sizes to protect the planet – one square at a time!

The platform enables the purchase of ‘squares’ from a range of terrestrial or marine habitats including rainforests, mangroves or coral reefs.

Rob talks us through why he founded Native, “we’re an evolution I suppose on binary one-dimensional carbon markets. We're trying to do things with a bit more transparency, a bit more holistically, and a bit more fairly as well.” We discuss the fact that when it comes to protecting the environment, how we are all responsible.

We discuss the importance of decarbonisation, but also the reality that carbon isn’t tangible, you can’t see it and you can’t connect to it and this creates a challenge when it comes to understanding and engagement. Rob tells us that we, (humans) have a very ‘left-brain bias’, “we like to break things down into their parts so that we can manipulate them, control them and make use of them.”

We talk about the unique features of Native and the fact that you can view your square(s) in real time, watching them grow and evolve. However, Rob also talks about the fact that you can also see the reality of what is happening in the places you’re investing in… - “in the map of our first project in the Solomon Islands, you can see the forest, and you can also see active logging, just 50 kilometers away.” It’s both exciting and sobering.

Rob has so may plans for Native when it comes to how people and organisations can get involved; from everyone being able to drive positive impact and take action - seeing the impact of their investment in real-time, through to employee engagement programmes, gifting, gamification and overall creating a big talking point - bringing friends, family and partners on the journey with you.

From as little as just £3 per square - there is no way you won’t be motivated to buy a square or two (or more) by the end of this episode. Indeed, we’re already ‘in’ –and so if you invest, do let us know!

Tune in and listen as we talk to Rob about:

• Native – the platform, it’s purpose and why it’s truly ‘fair and square’
• Why it is so important that we all take responsibility about protecting the planet
• How Native enables organisations to hit the environmental (E), Social (S) and Governance (G) all in one solution
• Why transparency and fairness is critically important
• How going beyond carbon brings impact to life - (literally)
• The need for better stories and engagement
• The need to measure impact in different ways
• The need for better more accessible funding across a broader range of projects

For more information about this nature based solution visit Native

And to connect with Rob to find out more and discuss your ‘squares’ - connect via LinkedIn.

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Welcome to “In My Humble Opinion”, a podcast collaboration between The Marketing Society and Publicis Groupe UK agencies that creates a space for marketing leaders to discuss their opinions on topics affecting our industry which they think about but may not always say out loud.

You will hear industry leaders and experts talk about their views and opinions on deliberately provocative subjects such as the impact of technology on brands and consumers, the future of our industry, the generational divides, diversity and inclusion and more.

Episode 3 - In My Humble Opinion...Retail is changing, powered by data and tuned by media’ - where we dive deep into how retail media is transforming the relationship between retailers and brands.

Featuring Susie Moan, Chief Data Officer at Currys, and Andy Barratt, Head of Retail Media at Currys, in conversation with Ben Foulkes, Commercial Director at Epsilon. They discuss how retail media is transforming the relationship between retailers and brands, exploring Currys Connected Media's journey and the exciting opportunities ahead. From leveraging customer data to creating meaningful brand partnerships, they discuss how retail media networks are reshaping the future of retail marketing and customer engagement.

Follow Susie Moan on LinkedIn here

Follow Andy Barratt on LinkedIn here

Follow Ben Foulkes on LinkedIn here

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Our industry is filled with many brilliant minds with thought provoking views, we can’t wait to bring them to you, our next episode of “In my humble opinion” will be coming soon and find our series of content of the same name over at The Marketing Society website.

Episode #143. Today’s topic is a technical and leadership skill exploring building and leading brands with soul, which doesn’t just arise from the company strategy or tactical execution but from the passion, love, and responsibility of the leaders and people in the business. 

Abby’s guest who is passionate about this topic and author of ‘Building Brands With Soul’ is Siew Ting Foo. An impactful and influential marketing leader, Siew Ting is named consecutively, six times as Asia's most purposeful and influential CMO, and named Asia and China's top woman leader, having worked on brands including Unilever, Mars, Diageo, Fonterra and most recently, HP.

In this episode, Siew Ting shares her definition and characteristics of brands with soul and why it’s important, the five pillars, human-centric leadership, global brands to local markets and how she connects to her team through ‘Friday emails’.

Plus Siew Ting’s career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.

00:00:00 Welcome and introduction to ‘building brands with soul’

00:03:45 The Five Pillars of Brands with Soul

00:05:13 Writing the Book for future leaders

00:06:29 Why is Human Centricity important

00:09:15 Siew Ting’s Personal Discovery and Purpose

00:11:00 First 100 Days Framework

00:15:21 How to Create Global Brands with Local Soul

00:19:49 Building Internal Belief

00:22:27 Authentic Leadership through Friday Emails

00:25:51 Personal Career Highs and Lows

00:27:36 Advice for Future Marketers

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Siew Ting Foo | LinkedIn

Siew Ting Foo will be part of The Marketing Society's Global Conversation How CMOs can build Brands with Soul, a Virtual event covering many of these topics discussed, on 27 February 2025 - find out more here

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com